Helen (rocket)
Helen was an experimental rocket developed by the Romanian non-governmental space research organization ARCA . The rocket was supposed to be brought into the stratosphere with a balloon from a ship and detonated there. It was part of a moon flight project, with which the ARCA participated in the Google Lunar X-Prize competition from 2008 .
Start attempts
On November 16, 2009, the X-Prize Foundation announced that a planned launch of the rocket had been postponed. Strong water currents would have delayed inflation of the balloon until there was no longer enough solar radiation.
Another attempt to launch the Helen 2 rocket was called Mission 4 and was scheduled to take place on August 4, 2010. It had to be broken off after the balloon envelope tore.
Another attempt on October 1, 2010 under the name Mission 4B was successful. The rocket took off from the balloon at a height of 14 kilometers and reached a summit height of 40 kilometers.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Actmedia: The first Romanian rocket will be launched to into space only next year (English)
- ^ ARCA has postponed the launch of Helen rocket. X Prize Foundation, November 16, 2009, archived from the original on November 19, 2009 ; accessed on February 12, 2010 (English).
- ↑ a b ARCA: Mission 4 - Helen 2 ( Memento from May 24, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
- ↑ Helen, prima rachetă românească la 40,000 de metri: "Aveam nevoie de un succes". In: evz.ro. October 4, 2010, accessed June 26, 2019 (Romanian).